[A case of apple allergy with initial symptoms like food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis]

A 13-year-old boy with two episodes of anaphylaxis after exercise was suspected as food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FEIAn). The exercise challenge test after ingestion of an apple was performed, because apple was commonly contained in meals before the both episodes and a prick test for apple was positive. The exercise test was positive accompanied with nasal discharge, sneezing, throat discomfort, swelling of the uvula. The patient was instructed to refrain from exercise for 4 hours after ingestion of apple. In five months, he developed allergic symptoms only by an intake of foods containing heated apple without exercise and showed a slight increase in apple-specific IgE from negative to 0.51 IU/ml. The prognosis of FEIAn has not been well described. Cases with FEIAn to apples like this case require a close follow-up in consideration of development of allergic reactions without exercise.

35 Years of Studies of Mixing of Rubber and Viscoelasticity

This paper provides a scientific treatment for mixing of rubber with reinforcing fillers. The primary attention is given to the viscoelastic nature of rubber. It is addressed to the practitioners of rubber processing, who have hands-on experience but lack familiarity with viscoelasticity. In the first part we provide a sketch of the major events: (1) polymerization, (2) resulting molecular architecture, (3) mechanical property of gum rubber, (4) mill processability, (5) processing with the internal mixer, and (6) compounding rubber with carbon black. The focal point of this paper is to relate the mill processability to the elongation and failure behavior of gum rubber. Viscous and elastic contributions to this relation are described. This relation provides the starting point for introducing scientific treatment for rubber mixing. Mechanisms of incorporation and dispersion of carbon black are also discussed. The presentation follows in an order of description on the behavior of gum rubber, that of carbon black, the interaction between rubber and carbon black, and the interaction between the material and the internal mixer.

In the second part a method of constructing viscoelastic master-curves from the tensile stress-strain data is presented. Such a master curve serves as a useful means of characterizing gum rubber in relating polymerization, resulting molecular architecture and processability. The milling and mixing of rubber with filler are achieved with fracture; the consequence of fracture is a generation of supermolecular flow units. The mechanism of fracture involves the pull out of chain ends through entanglements. The high concentration of the chain ends on the surface gives a tacky appearance to mixed compounds.

Blends of PVC with Miscible Polymers

Polymer blends consisting of miscible components may form single phase structures; however, it requires solution blending to ensure complete homogeneity. For a large scale mixing, however, mechanical blending is the common practice. The resulting blends are homogeneous on the macroscale, but often contain microscopic domains of the component polymers as well as domains of mixed phases. This work describes mechanical blends of PVC with miscible polymers (nitrile rubber, poly-e-caprolactone, and a copolyester thermoplastic elastomer). The complex morphology of these blends has been studied and identified by means of the frequency- and temperature-dependence of their viscoelastic behavior.

Mixing and Extrusion of High Silica and all Silica-natural Rubber Compounds

This work is an investigation on causes of extrusion problem of a high silica- and all silica-filled natural rubber compounds containing a coupling agent. The 67% silica and 33% carbon black, N110 compound (Compound 3) gave a wavy surface of extrudate from a profile die. The 100% silica-filled compound (Compound 4) was too stiff to be extruded. Reference compounds, 100% carbon black (Compound 1) and 33% silica with 67% carbon black (Compound 2), gave smooth extrudates. The amplitude dependence of storage modulus measurements indicated Compound 4 had a poorer dispersion of the filler. Scanning electron microscopy also showed a poorer dispersion for this compound. However, Compound 3 could not be distinguished from Compounds 1 and 2 in the above investigation. Transient shear measurements at very low deformation rate indicated a reaction between natural rubber and the coupling agent, resulting in gel and long-branch formation. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated the coupling reaction was completed at 140°C within the mixing time. By holding the maximum temperature of mixing as low as possible, the extrudate of Compound 3 became smooth, but Compound 4 still did not perform well. Improvement of dispersion is necessary to make Compound 4 extrudable.

Gelation and Fusion of PVC Plastisols with Plasticizers of Varying Solvent Power

During gelation and fusion process PVC plastisols changes from a suspension of resin particles in a liquid plasticizer to a uniform mass. The manner of change was observed with a scanning electron microscope, SEM. Four different plasticizers varying solvent power were used: they were dioctyl phthalate, dioctyl sebacate, dibutyl sebacate and tricresyl phosphate. Significant differences were observed among different plasticizer systems in a manner of dissolution of PVC into a plasticizer, swelling of PVC particles with a plasticizer and fusing to form a uniform mass. The SEM micrographs are presented with reference to the viscoelastic properties at the corresponding temperature.

Modelling Flow in Pin-Barrel Screw Extruders

The flow in a pin-barrel extruder has been analyzed based on a Newtonian fluid model. A numerical simulation based on the FAN method of Tadmor and his coworkers and an analytical model were used. The calculations show that the introduction of slices into screw flights and pins make the apparatus a much poorer screw pump. It would appear that the machine is though an effective continuous (distributive) mixing device.

Preparation of Foam from PVC Plastisol

The results of physical measurements and microscopic observation are presented to elucidate material behaviour at each stage of the foam preparation from PVC plastisol for use as a part of the cushion flooring. The paper also describes how the problems were solved by overcoming contradicting requirements in the process.

Peptide free energy landscapes calibrated by molecular orbital calculations

Free energy landscapes of peptide conformations werecalibrated by ab initiomolecular orbital calculations, after enhancedconformational sampling using the multicanonical molecular dynamicssimulations. Three different potentials of mean force for an isolateddipeptide were individually obtained using the conventional force fields,AMBER parm94, AMBER parm96, and CHARMm22. Each potential ofmean force was calibrated based on the umbrella sampling algorithm fromthe adiabatic energy map that was calculated separately by the abinitiomolecular orbital method. All the calibrated potentials of mean forcecoincided well. The calibration was applied to a peptide in explicit water,and the calibrated free energy landscapes did not depend on the force fieldused in conformational sampling, as far as the conformational space waswell sampled.

Novel powdered anti-adhesion material: preventing postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions in a rat model

BACKGROUND

Although laparoscopic surgery has decreased postoperative adhesions, complications induced by adhesions are still of great concern. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-adhesive effects of a novel powdered anti-adhesion material that can be applied during laparoscopic surgery in comparison with other anti-adhesion materials.

METHODS

Our novel powdered anti-adhesion material is composed of aldehyde dextran and ε-poly(L-lysine). In 40 male rats, a 2.5×2.0-cm abdominal wall resection and cecum abrasion were performed. The rats were randomized into four groups based on the anti-adhesion treatments: normal saline; Seprafilm(®); Interceed(®); and novel powdered anti-adhesion material. The animals were euthanized on days 7 and 28 to evaluate the adhesion severity, area of adhesion formation, gross appearance, and pathological changes.

RESULTS

The adhesion severities on both days 7 and 28 were significantly lower for all anti-adhesion material groups compared with the normal saline group (p<0.05). Pathologically, all groups showed inflammatory cell infiltration on day 7 and complete regeneration of the peritoneum on day 28.

CONCLUSIONS

Our novel powdered anti-adhesion material was found to be effective for reducing postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions and showed equivalent efficacy to commercial anti-adhesion materials.

Successful treatment of wound breakdown caused by pyoderma gangrenosum after total knee arthroplasty

Pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare ulcerative disorder of the skin of unknown etiology. We present a case of pyoderma gangrenosum that occurred following total knee arthroplasty, which was initially misdiagnosed as severe wound infection. Repeated debridement procedures resulted in a large soft tissue defect around the anterior knee joint. The patient was treated successfully with a latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap under immunosuppressive therapy. Pyoderma gangrenosum is often misdiagnosed as an infected wound, but the treatment for theses differential diagnoses is completely different. When a lesion is refractory to thorough treatment for infection, a diagnosis of pyoderma gangrenosum should be considered.

Marked difference between adults and children in Bordetella pertussis DNA load in nasopharyngeal swabs

Bordetella pertussis is the aetiologic agent of whooping cough, a common cause of severe respiratory illness in children and prolonged mild cough in adults. To understand some of the reasons for differences in clinical symptoms between adults and children, we measured B. pertussis DNA loads in nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) from 19 adults and 40 children (including 14 infants) by quantitative IS481 real-time PCR. All cases had been pre-diagnosed with the B. pertussis-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification method. The mean PCR threshold cycles for adult and child NPS were 34.9 and 27.1, respectively, indicating a significantly lower B. pertussis DNA load in adults than in children (p <0.001). Moreover, adults had very low DNA loads during both early and later stages of the disease. When corresponding bacterial loads in NPS were calculated for B. pertussis Tohama cells using a standard curve, the mean number of bacterial cells taken with a rayon-tipped swab from an adult, older child and infant was estimated to be 320 (95% CI 120-910), 2.1 × 10⁴(95% CI 5.3 × 10³ to 8.3 × 10⁴) and 1.1 × 10⁶ cells (95% CI 1.2 × 10⁵ to 8.9 × 10⁶), respectively. This indicates that the B. pertussis load in NPS is closely correlated with patient age. Our observations suggest that adult pertussis is characterized by a lower bacterial load in the nasopharynx, resulting in milder symptoms and negative cultures.

Relationship between exhaled nitric oxide and small airway lung function in normal and asthmatic children

BACKGROUND

In children, exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) is usually confounded by factors such as age and height. We evaluated the relationship between eNO and lung function by minimizing the effects of aging and height.

METHODS

In Study 1, the subjects comprised 738 elementary school children and junior high school children (aged 6 to 15 years, 366 males and 372 females). They were divided into two groups according to age (6-10 years and 11-15 years). A height range was determined by a histogram of height in each group. In Study 2, lung function, respiratory resistance and eNO level were measured in age- and height-limited groups.

RESULTS

In Study 1, total of 148 younger children ranging in height from 120 to 130 cm and 180 older children ranging in height from 148 to 158 cm participated in Study 2. The level of eNO among asthmatic children was higher than that of normal children in both the younger and the older groups. The decrease in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) and other parameters of central airway resistance did not correlate with the eNO level. However, the small airway parameters of MMEF and V(25)/HT in older asthmatic children, and V(25)/HT and R(5)-R(20) in younger asthmatic children inversely correlated with eNO.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that eNO level inversely correlates with small airway narrowing, and airway inflammation has a significant effect on small airway lung function in asthmatic school children.

Refrigerative Stereolithography Using Sol-Gel Transformable Photopolymer Resin and Direct Masking

The authors have been studying a new fabrication method termed “refrigerative stereolithography” which uses a gel resin layer instead of a liquid layer as in conventional stereolithography. This paper proposes the “direct masking method” in which a masking pattern is drawn to block direct light exposure to the surface of the gel resin layer. With such masks, we can avoid surplus growth only in the regions where it is unnecessary to improve height direction accuracy and resolution. Also, we can solidify the required section shape selectively using the masks and a lamp instead of laser scan patterns. The effectiveness of refrigerative stereolithography with the direct masking method is discussed and confirmed by some experimental results.

41 DEVELOPMENT OF SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFERRED RAT EMBRYOS TO THE BLASTOCYST BY A HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITOR, TRICHOSTATIN A

Although cloned animals have been reproduced in many species via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), only 1 previous report showed successful generation of cloned rats. Some researchers evaluated developmental competence of reconstructed rat embryos and showed that these reconstructed embryos were never progressed beyond the 2-cell stage because of inadequate formation of the mitotic assembly and nuclear organisation or improper transcription of cytoskeleton genes. Even though our group also improved the proportion of 2 pronuclear formation in rat reconstructed embryos by the treatment with a proteasome inhibitor, MG132 (Nakajima et al. 2008 Cloning and Stem Cells 10, 461–468), no embryos were developed beyond the 2-cell stage. Recently, it has been demonstrated that a histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA) treatment dramatically improves efficiency of cloning in the mouse, although the precise effect of TSA is unclear in SCNT. However, in the case of rats, availability of TSA has not been tested. The aim of the present study was to clarify whether TSA treatment was also effective in rat SCNT. According to our previous reports, rat oocytes were collected and the spindles of the oocytes were removed in medium supplemented with MG132. After enucleation, nuclei of cumulus cells were injected in the oocytes and the reconstructed embryos were cultured in the medium supplemented with 0 (control), 5, 50, or 500 nM TSA. More than 100 embryos are used for each treatment group. Pronuclear formation, development to the 2-cell stage and blastocyst formation were evaluated. Our results demonstrated that TSA treatment affected neither the proportion of pronuclear formation nor development to the 2-cell stage in rat reconstructed embryos. However, the treatment with higher concentrations of TSA treatment (50 nM and 500 nM) compared to the concentration (5 nM) which was usually used for mouse SCNT enabled the reconstructed embryos to develop to the blastocyst stage but at low rate (1.4 to 2.2%). In both the 5 nM treatment and control groups, none of the rat reconstructed embryos developed to blastocyst. Taken together, our data suggests that TSA treatment also seems to be effective in rat SCNT. These findings will be useful for improvement of the protocol in rat SCNT. This work was also supported in part by the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan, Grant-in-Aid for Matching Fund Subsidy for Private Universities to J. I. and N. K.